Reflow of data presentation using tracking data

ABSTRACT

In an example embodiment, a script defining a flow of a user interface is distributed to a user application operating on a client device. Then interactions between users on one or more client devices and one or more server devices are tracked. The script is then modified based on the information about the interactions, the modification changing the flow. The modified script may then be distributed to the user application, thus causing a modification in the flow of the user interface of the user application.

PRIORITY

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application.Ser. No. 14/050,080, titled “REFLOW OF DATA PRESENTATION USING TRACKINGDATA,” filed Oct. 9, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and dataas described below and in the drawings that form a part of thisdocument: Copyright eBay, Inc. 2013, All Rights Reserved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to data presentation onelectronic devices and, in one specific example, to techniques forreflow of data. presentation using tracking data.

BACKGROUND

The use of mobile devices, such as cellphones, smartphones, tablets, andlaptop computers, has increased rapidly in recent years. The majority ofthese mobile devices are controlled by users via touchscreens. As such,there has been an increased focus on user interfaces, which involve thepresentation of data to users and interactions with the data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system, withinwhich one example embodiment may be deployed.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating marketplace and paymentapplications that, in one example embodiment, are provided as part ofthe networked system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a client device, in accordancewith an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating screen captures of a flow of ane-commerce application in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating screen captures of a modified flow ofan e-commerce application in accordance with an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method, consistent withvarious embodiments described above.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a mobile device, according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the example formof a computer system within which a set of instructions may be executedfor causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods and systems for reflow of data presentation usingtracking data are provided. It will be evident, however, to one skilledin the art that the present inventive subject matter may be practicedwithout these specific details.

According to various exemplary embodiments, data presentation in a userinterface is automatically modified based on tracking data. The userinterface may utilize scripts to describe the flow of variousinteractions with the user. In an example embodiment, a user interfacescript is dynamically modified based on the tracking data, causing theflow of the interactions to be modified, hence the “reflow” of the datapresentation is accomplished.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system 100, withinwhich one example embodiment may be deployed. A networked system 102, inthe example forms of a network-based marketplace or publication system,provides server-side functionality, via a network 104 (e.g., theInternet or a Wide Area Network (WAN)), to one or more clients. FIG. 1illustrates, for example, a web client 106 (e.g., a browser, such as theInternet Explorer browser developed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,Washington State) and a programmatic client 108 executing on respectivedevices 110 and 112.

An Application Program Interface (API) server 114 and a web server 116are coupled to, and provide programmatic and web interfaces respectivelyto, one or more application servers 118, The application servers 118host one or more marketplace applications 120 and payment applications122. The application servers 118 are, in turn, shown to be coupled toone or more database servers 124 that facilitate access to one or moredatabases 126.

The marketplace applications 120 may provide a number of marketplacefunctions and services to users who access the networked system 102. Thepayment applications 122 may likewise provide a number of paymentservices and functions to users. The payment applications 122 may allowusers to accumulate value (e.g., in a commercial currency, such as theU.S. dollar, or a proprietary currency, such as “points”) in accounts,and then later to redeem the accumulated value for products (e.g., goodsor services) that are made available via the marketplace applications120. While the marketplace and payment applications 120 and 122 areshown in FIG. 1 to both form part of the networked system 102, it willbe appreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the paymentapplications 122 may form part of a payment service that is separate anddistinct from the networked system 102.

Further, while the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 employs a client-serverarchitecture, the embodiments are, of course, not limited to such anarchitecture, and could equally well find application in a distributed,or peer-to-peer, architecture system, for example. The variousmarketplace and payment applications 120 and 122 could also beimplemented as standalone software programs, which do not necessarilyhave networking capabilities.

The web client 106 accesses the various marketplace and paymentapplications 120 and 122 via the web interface supported by the webserver 116. Similarly, the programmatic client 108 accesses the variousservices and functions provided by the marketplace and paymentapplications 120 and 122 via the programmatic interface provided by theAPI server 114. The programmatic client 108 may, for example, be aseller application (e.g., the TurboLister application developed by eBayInc., of San Jose, Calif.) to enable sellers to author and managelistings on the networked system 102 in an off-line manner, and toperform batch-mode communications between the programmatic client 108and the networked system 102.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a third party application 128, executing on athird party server machine 130, as having programmatic access to thenetworked system 102 via the programmatic interface provided by the APIserver 114. For example, the third party application 128 may, utilizinginformation retrieved from the networked system 102, support one or morefeatures or functions on a website hosted by the third party. The thirdparty website may, for example, provide one or more promotional,marketplace, or payment functions that are supported by the relevantapplications of the networked system 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating marketplace and paymentapplications 120 and 122 that, in one example embodiment, are providedas part of application server(s) 118 in the networked system 102. Theapplications 120 and 122 may be hosted on dedicated or shared servermachines (not shown) that are communicatively coupled to enablecommunications between server machines. The applications 120 and 122themselves are communicatively coupled (e.g., via appropriateinterfaces) to each other and to various data sources, so as to allowinformation to be passed between the applications 120 and 122 or so asto allow the applications 120 and 122 to share and access common data.The applications 120 and 122 may furthermore access one or moredatabases 126 via the database servers 124.

The networked system 102 may provide a number of publishing, listing,and price-setting mechanisms whereby a seller may list (or publishinformation concerning) goods or services for sale, a buyer can expressinterest in or indicate a desire to purchase such goods or services, anda price can be set for a transaction pertaining to the goods orservices. To this end, the marketplace and payment applications 120 and122 are shown to include at least one publication application 200 andone or more auction applications 202, which support auction-formatlisting and price setting mechanisms (e.g., English, Dutch, Vickrey,Chinese, Double, Reverse auctions, etc.). The various auctionapplications 202 may also provide a number of features in support ofsuch auction-format listings, such as a reserve price feature whereby aseller may specify a reserve price in connection with a listing and aproxy-bidding feature whereby a bidder may invoke automated proxybidding.

A number of fixed-price applications 204 support fixed-price listingformats (e.g., the traditional classified advertisement-type listing ora catalogue listing) and buyout-type listings. Specifically, buyout-typelistings (e.g., including the Buy-It-Now (BIN) technology developed byeBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) may be offered in conjunction withauction-format listings, and allow a buyer to purchase goods orservices, which are also being offered for sale via an auction, for afixed-price that is typically higher than the starting price of theauction.

Store applications 206 allow a seller to group listings within a“virtual” store, which may be branded and otherwise personalized by andfor the seller. Such a virtual store may also offer promotions,incentives, and features that are specific and personalized to arelevant seller.

Reputation applications 208 allow users who transact, utilizing thenetworked system 102, to establish, build, and maintain reputations,which may be made available and published to potential trading partners.Consider that where, for example, the networked system 102 supportsperson-to-person trading, users may otherwise have no history or otherreference information whereby the trustworthiness and credibility ofpotential trading partners may be assessed. The reputation applications208 allow a user (for example, through feedback provided by othertransaction partners) to establish a reputation within the networkedsystem 102 over time. Other potential trading partners may thenreference such a reputation for the purposes of assessing credibilityand trustworthiness.

Personalization applications 210 allow users of the networked system 102to personalize various aspects of their interactions with the networkedsystem 102. For example a user may, utilizing an appropriatepersonalization application 210, create a personalized reference page atwhich information regarding transactions to which the user is (or hasbeen) a party may be viewed. Further, a personalization application 210may enable a user to personalize listings and other aspects of theirinteractions with the networked system 102 and other parties.

The networked system 102 may support a number of marketplaces that arecustomized, for example, for specific geographic regions. A version ofthe networked system 102 may be customized for the United Kingdom,whereas another version of the networked system 102 may be customizedfor the United States. Each of these versions may operate as anindependent marketplace or may be customized (or internationalized)presentations of a common underlying marketplace. The networked system102 may accordingly include a number of internationalizationapplications 212 that customize information (and/or the presentation ofinformation by the networked system 102) according to predeterminedcriteria (e.g., geographic, demographic or marketplace criteria). Forexample, the internationalization applications 212 may be used tosupport the customization of information for a number of regionalwebsites that are operated by the networked system 102 and that areaccessible via respective web servers 116.

Navigation of the networked system 102 may be facilitated by one or morenavigation applications 214. For example, a search application (as anexample of a navigation application 214) may enable key word searches oflistings published via the networked system 102. A browse applicationmay allow users to browse various category, catalogue, or inventory datastructures according to which listings may be classified within thenetworked system 102. Various other navigation applications 214 may beprovided to supplement the search and browsing applications.

In order to make listings available via the networked system 102 asvisually informing and attractive as possible, the applications 120 and122 may include one or more imaging applications 216, which users mayutilize to upload images for inclusion within listings. An imagingapplication 216 also operates to incorporate images within viewedlistings. The imaging applications 216 may also support one or morepromotional features, such as image galleries that are presented topotential buyers. For example, sellers may pay an additional fee to havean image included within a gallery of images for promoted items.

Listing creation applications 218 allow sellers to conveniently authorlistings pertaining to goods or services that they wish to transact viathe networked system 102, and listing management applications 220 allowsellers to manage such listings. Specifically, where a particular sellerhas authored and/or published a large number of listings, the managementof such listings may present a challenge. The listing managementapplications 220 provide a number of features (e.g., auto-relisting,inventory level monitors, etc.) to assist the seller in managing suchlistings. One or more post-listing management applications 222 alsoassist sellers with a number of activities that typically occurpost-listing. For example, upon completion of an auction facilitated byone or more auction applications 202, a seller may wish to leavefeedback regarding a particular buyer. To this end, a post-listingmanagement application 222 may provide an interface to one or morereputation applications 208, so as to allow the seller conveniently toprovide feedback regarding multiple buyers to the reputationapplications 208.

Dispute resolution applications 224 provide mechanisms whereby disputesarising between transacting parties may be resolved. For example, thedispute resolution applications 224 may provide guided procedureswhereby the parties are guided through a number of steps in an attemptto settle a dispute. In the event that the dispute cannot be settled viathe guided procedures, the dispute may be escalated to a third partymediator or arbitrator.

A number of fraud prevention applications 226 implement fraud detectionand prevention mechanisms to reduce the occurrence of fraud within thenetworked system 102.

Messaging applications 228 are responsible for the generation anddelivery of messages to users of the networked system 102 (such as, forexample, messages advising users regarding the status of listings at thenetworked system 102 (e.g., providing “outbid” notices to bidders duringan auction process or to provide promotional and merchandisinginformation to users)). Respective messaging applications 228 mayutilize any one of a number of message delivery networks and platformsto deliver messages to users. For example, messaging applications 228may deliver electronic mail (e-mail), instant message (IM), ShortMessage Service (SMS), text, facsimile, or voice (e.g., Voice over IP(VoIP)) messages via the wired (e.g., the Internet), plain old telephoneservice (POTS), or wireless (e.g., mobile, cellular, WiFi, WiMAX)networks 104.

Merchandising applications 230 support various merchandising functionsthat are made available to sellers to enable sellers to increase salesvia the networked system 102. The merchandising applications 230 alsooperate the various merchandising features that may be invoked bysellers, and may monitor and track the success of merchandisingstrategies employed by sellers.

The networked system 102 itself, or one or more parties that transactvia the networked system 102, may operate loyalty programs that aresupported by one or more loyalty/promotions applications 232. Forexample, a buyer may earn loyalty or promotion points for eachtransaction established and/or concluded with a particular seller, andbe offered a reward for which accumulated loyalty points can beredeemed.

A script distribution application 234 may distribute scripts to one ormore client devices. The scripts may define flows executed in varioususer interfaces of applications running on the one or more clientdevices.

A tracking application 236 may monitor various interactions in thesystem, and specifically user interactions with user interfaces. Thistracking application 236 may monitor, for example, how a user interactswith a user interface and may store this information, but may alsoinclude other types of information as well. Generally this informationmay be known as “analytics.” The tracking application 236 may store manydifferent types of analytics information, some of which may be relevantto a determination as to how to modify flow by modifying a script of anapplication running on a user device. Examples of such information mayinclude, but are not limited to, demographic information, user profileinformation, contextual information (e.g., information about what theuser did before or after engaging in a flow), previous flow usageinformation, purchase information, location information, experiencelevel of the user, a type of the user, etc.). Generally speaking, anypiece of information that could potentially be used to refine the flowmay be relevant information.

A scripting modification application 238 may then modify scripts of userinterfaces based on this stored information. More particularly, thescripting modification application 238, which operates on a server, maymodify the script of a user interface that executes on a client devicethat is associated with a user, based on the user's previousinteractions, whether with the specific user interface executing on theclient device, or other user interfaces, such as one executing on adifferent client device. The script distribution application 234 maythen distribute the revised script(s) to the appropriate client devices.This allows the system to customize the user interface for the user in away that makes the user's interactions ore efficient.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a client device 300, inaccordance with an example embodiment. The client device 300, may be,for example, device 110 or 112 of FIG. 1. The client device 300 mayinclude a processor 302 and memory 304. The memory 304 may store a userinterface 306 having a script 308. The script 308 may be written in ascripting language and can be interpreted by a special runtimeenvironment for the user interface 306. One example scripting languageis JavaScript, although this disclosure is not limited to JavaScriptembodiments. In some example embodiments, the user interface 306 may bea web browser. Alternatively, the user interface 306 may be astand-alone application.

In an example embodiment, based at least in part on trackinginformation, a server acts to modify the script 308 stored on the clientdevice 300. This acts to alter the manner in which the user interface306 interacts with the user.

Examples will now be provided in the e-commerce area, although one ofordinary skill in the art will recognize that the disclosure is notlimited to e-commerce or e-commerce type flows.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating screen captures of a flow 400 of ane-commerce application in accordance with an example embodiment. Theflow 400 begins with screen 402, which includes a text input box 404where a user can enter a search query. Here the user has entered theterm “router” in the text input box 404. Upon the user hitting return ontheir keyboard, or some other mechanism to indicate the desire to searchthe entered term, an e-commerce server is queried and a number of itemresults that match the entered term are returned. This is depicted atscreen 406. Notably, screen 406 depicts both items that are auctions,such as 408 and 410, and items that are fixed price, also known as“buy-it-now”, such as 412, 414, and 416. The user may then decide thathe or she wishes to only see auction items, and thus may press a refinebutton 418 or perform some other action indicating a desire to alterwhich search results are displayed. The result is screen 420, whichallows a user to select only auction results by selecting button 422.Upon hitting the search button 424, the search results are refined toonly show auction results, resulting in screen 426.

The user may then decide that he or she wishes to only see auctionitems, and thus may press the refine button 418 again, resulting inscreen 428, which allows the user to select only buy it now results byselecting button 430. The resulting screen 432 displays only buy it nowresults.

In an example embodiment, the system investigates whether there may besome indication of preferring a different flow for the same process. Asan example, assume that the user has performed the flow depicted in FIG.4 multiple times, never selected an item from the search results ofscreen 406, but instead only selected items from the search results ofscreens 426 and 432. The system may then deduce that the user has noreal interest in viewing search results as a whole and would rather seethem organized in either auction-only or buy-it-now-only screens. Theremay even be other information that the system uses to make thisdeduction (e.g., user profile information, generic demographicinformation and research, contextual information, etc.). Nevertheless,once the system determines that the user has no real interest in viewingsearch results as a whole, it can modify the script associated with thesearch process for this user and send the modified script to the userdevice to be used in place of the old, possibly default, script.Specifically, the script may alter the flow that occurs after screen 402so that screens 406 and 420 are eliminated.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating screen captures of a modified flow 434of an e-commerce application in accordance with an example embodiment.Here, screens 406 and 420 have been eliminated from the flow, and theresult of searching the term “router” from screen 402 is screen 426,automatically assuming that the user wishes to see auction-only resultsfirst. Notably, this results in a more efficient presentation to theuser, as the user need only navigate four screens instead of six, andalso has the secondary effect of reducing bandwidth usage and load (asfewer interactions are needed with the e-commerce server).

In an example embodiment, the modifications to the script may be usermodifiable and overridable. For example, a first user may be explicitlypresented with a proposed change to the flow, and may then assent orreject such a chance. For example, in the example flow from FIGS. 4 and5 above, the user may be told that “It appears that you typically do notneed to receive search results for both auction and buy-it-now itemssimultaneously but prefer to see them separately. Is that correct?” Inanother example embodiment, the user may be able to alter settings as towhether scripts are modifiable with or without his or her consent. Inanother example embodiment, the user may be able to set a sensitivitylevel, so that the system is either more or less aggressive withaltering the scripts. The user may even specify what types ofinformation the system uses in making its determination as to whether toalter the flow.

The decision as to whether to alter the flow by modifying a script onthe user device may be triggered by a number of different scenarios. Inone example embodiment, the system periodically reexamines the flows ofall users based on the latest analytics information, and sends updatedscripts as appropriate. In another example embodiment, the system isprompted to reexamine a script flow when the user begins execution of aflow. For example, in FIG. 4, the system may reexamine the flow once theuser transitions from screen 402, and may alter the flow dynamically tothe flow in FIG. 5, if it deems it appropriate, so that the user isautomatically sent to screen 426.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 600, consistentwith various embodiments described above. The method 600 may beperformed at least in part by, for example, an application server 118illustrated in FIG. 1 (or an apparatus having similar functionality). Inoperation 602, a script defining flow of a user interface is distributedto a user application operating on a client device. As stated earlier,this user application may be, for example, a stand-alone application ora web browser. At operation 604, interactions between users on one ormore client devices and one or more server devices may be tracked. Theseinteractions may include user interactions with user interfaces. Inoperation 606, the script may he modified based on the information aboutthe interactions. This modification alters the flow. In operation 608,the modified script may be distributed to the user application, thuscausing a modification in the flow of the user interface of the userapplication.

In an example embodiment, the scripts themselves may have beenpre-crated and associated with a series of user actions that may allowthe system to substitute one script with another.

In another example embodiment, the user may have the ability to disablechanges in the script and revert back to a default script, or freeze acurrent script and make that a new default script.

Example Mobile Device

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile device 700, according toan example embodiment. The mobile device 700 may include a processor702. The processor 702 may be any of a variety of different types ofcommercially available processors 702 suitable for mobile devices 700(for example, an XScale architecture microprocessor, a microprocessorwithout interlocked pipeline stages (MIPS) architecture processor, oranother type of processor 702). A memory 704, such as a random accessmemory (RAM), a flash memory, or other type of memory, is typicallyaccessible to the processor 702. The memory 704 may be adapted to storean operating system (OS) 706, as well as application programs 708, suchas a mobile location enabled application that may provide LBSs to auser. The processor 702 may be coupled, either directly or viaappropriate intermediary hardware, to a display 7010 and to one or moreinput/output (I/O) devices 712, such as a keypad, a touch panel sensor,a microphone, and the like. Similarly, in some embodiments, theprocessor 702 may be coupled to a transceiver 714 that interfaces withan antenna 716. The transceiver 714 may be configured to both transmitand receive cellular network signals, wireless data signals, or othertypes of signals via the antenna 716, depending on the nature of themobile device 700. Further, in some configurations, GPS receiver 718 mayalso make use of the antenna 716 to receive GPS signals.

Modules, Components and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied (1) on a non-transitorymachine-readable medium or (2) in a transmission signal) orhardware-implemented modules. A hardware-implemented module is atangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more processors 702 may be configured by software(e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardware-implementedmodule that operates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware-implemented module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware-implementedmodule may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanentlyconfigured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware-implementedmodule may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., asencompassed within a general-purpose processor 702 or other programmableprocessor 702) that is temporarily configured by software to performcertain operations. It will be appreciated that the decision toimplement a hardware-implemented module mechanically, in dedicated andpermanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry(e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware-implemented module” should be understoodto encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily ortransitorily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certainmanner and/or to perform certain operations described herein.Considering embodiments in which hardware-implemented modules aretemporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware-implemented modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware-implementedmodules comprise a general-purpose processor 702 configured usingsoftware, the general-purpose processor 702 may be configured asrespective different hardware-implemented modules at different times.Software may accordingly configure a processor 702, for example, toconstitute a particular hardware-implemented module at one instance oftime and to constitute a different hardware-implemented module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware-implemented modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware-implemented modules. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware-implemented modules may be regarded as beingcommunicatively coupled. Where multiple of such hardware-implementedmodules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved throughsignal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses thatconnect the hardware-implemented modules). In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware-implemented modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware-implementedmodules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrievalof information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware-implemented modules have access. For example, onehardware-implemented module may perform an operation, and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware-implemented module may then,at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process thestored output. Hardware-implemented modules may also initiatecommunications with input or output devices, and can operate on aresource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors 702 that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors 702 may constitute processor-implementedmodules that operate to perform one or more operations or functions. Themodules referred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or processors 702 orprocessor-implemented modules. The performance of certain of theoperations may be distributed among the one or more processors 702, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor 702 or processors702 may be located in a single location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment or as a server farm), while in otherembodiments the processors 702 may be distributed across a number oflocations.

The one or more processors 702 may also operate to support performanceof the relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., application program interfaces (APIs).)

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier,e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor702, a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors 702 executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that that both hardware and software architectures requireconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor 702), or acombination of permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be adesign choice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-readable Medium

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of machine in the example form of a computersystem 800 within which instructions, for causing the machine to performany one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed.In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions tobe taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 800 includes a processor 802 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 804 and a static memory 806, which communicate witheach other via a bus 808. The computer system 800 may further include avideo display unit 810 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or acathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 800 also includes analphanumeric input device 812 (e.g., a keyboard or a touch-sensitivedisplay screen), a user interface (UI) navigation device 814 (e.g., amouse), a disk drive unit 816, a signal generation device 818 (e.g., aspeaker) and a network interface device 820.

Machine-readable Medium

The disk drive unit 816 includes a machine-readable medium 822 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,software) 824 embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 824 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory804 and/or within the processor 802 during execution thereof by thecomputer system 800, the main memory 804 and the processor 802 alsoconstituting machine-readable media 822.

While the machine-readable medium 822 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one ormore instructions 824 or data structures. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that iscapable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions 824 for executionby the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more ofthe methodologies of the present disclosure or that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associatedwith such instructions 824. The term “machine-readable medium” shallaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-statememories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples ofmachine-readable media 822 include non-volatile memory, including by wayof example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

Transmission Medium

The instructions 824 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 826 using a transmission medium. The instructions824 may be transmitted using the network interface device 820 and anyone of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP). Examplesof communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a widearea network (“WAN”), the Internet, mobile telephone networks, plain oldtelephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., WiFi andWiMax networks). The term “transmission medium” shall be taken toinclude any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding orcarrying instructions 824 for execution by the machine, and includesdigital or analog communications signals or other intangible media tofacilitate communication of such software.

Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a parthereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specificembodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. Theembodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

1. An apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory; a script distributionapplication, executable by the processor, and configured to distribute ascript defining a flow of a user interface to a user applicationoperating on a client device, the script written in a computer scriptinglanguage and interpreted at runtime by a special runtime environment inthe user application, the flow defining a sequence of user interfacescreens and user interface elements displayed on each of the userinterface screens; a tracking application, executable by the processor,and configured to track interactions between one or more client devicesand one or more server devices, the interactions including interactionsgenerated in response to user input to the one or more client devices,and to store information about the interactions in the memory; ascripting modification application configured to modify the script basedon the information about the interactions, the modification changing theflow; and the script distribution application being further configuredto distribute the modified script to the user application, thus causinga modification in the flow of the user interface of the userapplication.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user applicationis a stand-alone application.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theuser application operates in a web browser.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the information about interactions include information about howa user previously traversed the flow of the user interface.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the information about interactionsincludes contextual information.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe information about interactions includes information about purchasesmade via the flow.
 7. An apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory; ascript distribution application, executable by the processor, andconfigured to distribute a script defining a flow of a user interface toa user application operating on a client device; a tracking application,executable by the processor, and configured to monitor user input to theuser interface and to store information about the interactions in thememory; a scripting modification application configured to modify thescript based on the information about the user input, the modificationchanging the flow; and the script distribution application being furtherconfigured to distribute the modified script to the user application,thus causing a modification in the flow of the user interface of theuser application.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the userapplication is a stand-alone application.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the user application operates in a web browser.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 7, wherein the modifying further includes modifyingthe script based on user profile information.
 11. A method comprising:distributing a script defining a flow of a user interface to a userapplication operating on a client device, the script written in acomputer scripting language and interpreted at runtime by a specialruntime environment in the user application, the flow describing asequence of user interface screens and user interface elements displayedon each of the user interface screens; tracking interactions betweenusers on one or more client devices and one or more server devices, theinteractions including interactions generated in response to user inputto the one or more client devices; modifying the script based oninformation about the interactions, the modification changing the flow;and distributing the modified script to the user application, thuscausing a modification in the flow of the user interface of the userapplication.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the information aboutinteractions includes information about how a user previously traversedthe flow of the user interface.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein theinformation about interactions includes contextual information.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the information about interactions includesinformation about purchases made via the flow.
 15. The method of claim11, wherein the modifying further includes modifying the script based onuser demographic information.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein themodifying further includes modifying the script based on user profileinformation.
 17. A method comprising: distributing a script defining aflow of a user interface to a user application operating on a clientdevice; tracking user input to the user interface of the userapplication; modifying the script based on the user input, themodification changing the flow; and distributing the modified script tothe user application, thus causing a modification in the flow of theuser interface of the user application.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein the modifying further includes modifying the script based onuser demographic information.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein themodifying further includes modifying the script based on user profileinformation.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the modifying furtherincludes modifying the script based on location information.